As a key port city of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and the Silk Road Economic Belt, the coastal city of Xiamen in East China's Fujian province has made contentious efforts to expand and improve maritime corridors and enhance economic and trade exchanges along the Maritime Silk Road.
Xiamen was historically significant as the beginning of the Maritime Silk Road. The city has the geographic advantage of connecting the north and south, as well as the east and west, and it has long played a crucial and necessary role in the country's development strategy.
Blessed with the above unique advantages, Xiamen has attached great importance to increasing interconnectivity in countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), aiming to build an efficient and convenient sea, land and air transport network for BRI countries and regions. All these efforts have proved successful for Xiamen to consolidate its position in land-sea transport under the BRI.
In 2015, the city launched the China-Europe Express (Xiamen), which has helped integrate the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and the Silk Road, and become a new engine for promoting the connectivity of the BRI.
As of the end of May, 1,147 China-Europe freight trains loaded with goods worth 27.71 billion yuan ($4.13 billion) departed from Xiamen for Europe, according to official data. The China-Europe Express (Xiamen) has opened three main routes from Xiamen to Hamburg in Germany, Central Asia and Russia.
A total of 2,026 standard containers carrying goods worth more than 1 billion yuan were handled by the combined sea-rail service from Xiamen, according to the freight operators.
The city's railway authorities have also launched innovative and tailor-made services for local enterprises, such as the TPV Display Special Train, enabling fast and convenient transport from Xiamen to the TPV plant in Poland.
In 2018, Xiamen launched the Silk Road Maritime, a new logistics facilitation platform, which aims to add tremendous value to shipping operations in the eastern region by optimizing routes currently in use.
As of the end of 2021, a total of 86 routes joined the Silk Road Maritime platform, connecting 102 ports in 29 countries, and the new logistics platform has been playing an important role in enhancing transportation networks and promoting trade in countries and regions involved in the BRI.
China announced and implemented on May 15 a policy allowing visa-free entry of foreign tourist groups aboard cruise ships via all cruise ship ports along the country's coastline.
China and Georgia are set to waive visa requirements for travelers starting May 28.
